Potato-planting attachment for plows



Mar. 13, i923. 1,448,661

o; HALLINGSTAD POTATO PLANTING ATTACHMENT FOR FLOWS YFiled Aug. 20, 1920 Illllllllll Patented ar. 13, 1923.

\ STATES,

om: HALLTNGSTAD, or PLAZA', NORTH DAKOTA.

PoTATorLA-'N-T'ING ATTACHMENT Fon rtows.4

Application filed August 20, 1920.' Serial No. 404,914.

plow Vis in action will automaticallyplantA or drop seed potatoes one'by one-in the-.fur-

row madeby one plowu and let the-"secondplow coverfthe potatoes by the second furrowl whichit turns over duringfthe same-.one single drive 0f the' whole plow.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top 4or plan view of a gang plow equipped with my planting attachment. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig.-1 intersected on the line2-2ly Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 in'Fig; 2. Fig. 4 is a detail rear elevation of the potato dropping device yin Fig 3showi'ng'how said device is secured on the chain carryingit. Fig. 5 is a left hand side elevation of Fig. 4.

Iiefer'ring to the drawing by reference numerals, 6 designates the frame, 7 the draft clevis, 8, 9 and 10 the supporting wheels of an ordinary gang plow of the` kind comprising several plows, but most often only two plows, arranged as those marked 11 and 12 in my drawing.

The usual leaning position of some of the.

supporting wheels I have not shown because the same is well known in plows prior to my invention.

ounted upon the rear end of the frame 6 is a potato hopper 13 having a Vertical downward extension 14, terminating in a dropping tube 15, which is arranged to drop the potato into `the furrow made by the plow 11, as the potato P5 in Fig. 2. Said extension 14 is secured by soft iron arms 16 and bolts 17, tothe plow frame and extends some distance forward of the vertical front wall 14a of the hopper. Said wall 14L is cut away for two sprocket wheels 18, 19. `Sprocket 18 rotates on a stump shaft 20 fixed in the sides of extension 14; and sprocket 19 is fixed on a shaft 21. The latter shaft is journaled in suitable bearings 22, upon the wall 14a and in a bearing 23 held by a bracket or frame 24: the latter is steadied by a brace 25 extending down to the plow frame; a similar brace 26 may' steady the hopper. yAll of said elements 24, 25, 26, are made with several bolt holes 27, so as to be adjustable up and down on the plo-w kframe according tothe height of the plow wheels. The spout 15 may also be extensible to adapt it for vertical adjustment, but as adjusting means are common I ywill nothere further describe the details thereof. n

Fixed on the shaft 21 are two collars 28,

29 torprevent sliding of the shaft, anda clutch member 29` adapted for' engagement by a clutch member 30 'which is-slidable on the shaft and always under inwardpressure by a spring 31-and a collar 32.

Removably secured upon the clutch member 30-is a sprocket pinion 33, which is driven by a link-belt 34 for a sprocket wheelp35, which is suitably connected with the supporting wheel 10.

The` clutch member 30 is engaged by va i shifter fork 36 having a rod 37 attached to a handI lever 38, which maybe suitably engaged with a notched sector 39 when the spring 31 is compressed and the clutch member 3,0 disengaged from the member 29, in

stopping the planting attachment during idle ridin of the plow, or during plowing without p anting.

In further describing the! planting device,

an endless link belt 40 is stretched over the two sprockets 18, 19 and carries several,

in the `present drawing four, plates 41, se-

cured to certain links of the chain by rivets 42 (see Fig. 4) and each having a main body 43 bent at right angles (at 44 in Fig. 5)- to the portion secured t0 the link.

Hinged at 45 to each end of the plate body 43 is a liap 46. The two flaps or jaws in each device are attached together by a pulling coil spring 47,'which tends at all times to close the jaws toward each other; but such olosin is regulated by an arm 48 secured on eac jaw and provided with an antifriction roller 49, which rollers ride on certain uneven tracks during the travel of the link belt, `as will appear from the following description of the operation. In the operation of the whole machine, when the plow is drawn forward and the clutch members 29-30 engaged, each pair of jaws 46 in passing upward as at 46a in Fig. 2, receives a potato as P2 from the lot P3 in the hopper. the jaws being held spread by the rollers 19 being on the narrow-spaced tracks 50, which start with inclines 51 and extend to side pockets or clearances 52 (see Figs. 1 and 2), which are of even lateral depths and open upward into the inclined sides or' the hopper. As the rollers 49 swing into said clearances 52 in the tracks, the potato P2 is clasped between the springclosed jaws and is then carried as P3x over the top of the wall 14 and downward outside the hopper until released, as at P4, by spreading of the jaws; said spreading being caused by the closing of the arms 48 as the rollers i9 move down along inclines 53. IVhen the rollers get below the ends 5ft of said inclines the spring may spread them again until they reach the inclines 51 where they get closed again, so as to hold 'the jaws spread and ready to receive the next potato as at P2. The potato carrying devices are so arranged or spaced on the chain that as soon as one upward moving device has left the passage 55 (in Fig. 2) the next potato clasping device has entered the passage suiiiciently to prevent downward escape of potatoes from the hopper. As already stated before, as each potato drops into the furrow, like potato P5, it is covered by the furrow turned by plow 12.

The distance between the potatoes planted in the same rowis regulated by the size of the sprocket 33, say ifteen inches apart, and when a longer or shorter spacing is desired said pinion is exchanged for a larger or smaller one (not shown) and the belt 3&1 lengthened or shortenedy by inserting an eXtra link or two rin it, or by removing a link. Or if the b elt is a leather belt or similar kind it may be long enough to lit the largest pinion, and when smaller pinions are used its slack may be taken up by a belt-tightener of any suitable type. In fitting the attachment onto plows of slightly different form of frame, the arms 16 being made of eXtra. soft iron may be bent considerably without heating them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a potato planting attachment lined upon the frame of a riding plow, a mechanism frame, a hopper mounted upon the frame and having one open side and a dropping tube therebelow, an endless flexible conveyor having on its outer side clamps comprising pivoted clamping jaws and springs closing said jaws in pairs to make them grip,y carry and drop potatoes, one run of said conveyor being arranged to move upwardly in the open side of the hopper, the other run moving downwardly into the upper end of the dropping tube, and inter-engaging means on the clamping jaws and on the mechanism frame for opening each pair olf jaws while it engages and while it drops a potato; each of said clamps comprising an angle plate having one arm secured to the conveyor' and its other arm standing at about right angles to the conveyor belt and having two clamping members hinged one to each opposite edge of the arm, and a contraction coil spring extending between the jaws ol" each pair to pull them toward each other.

In testimony whereof I atliX my signature.

OLE HALLINGSTAD. 

